Many types of electronic equipment are comprised of a plurality of circuit boards, each mounting various electronic components whose leads are interconnected by metallized patterns on one or both major surfaces of the circuit board. The circuit boards are commonly interconnected by a backplane, typically a glass epoxy substrate, which carries a plurality of edge connectors, each making electrical contact with a separate circuit board. Each edge connector is comprised of an insulative body having an opening therein for receiving an end of a circuit board. A plurality of conductive contact fingers each extend into the opening in the body of the edge connector to make electrical contact with a metallized pattern on the circuit board whose end is received in the edge connector.
Each contact finger within the body of the edge connector extends therefrom for insertion through a metal-plated aperture in the backplane. Metallized patterns are provided on one or both of the major surfaces of the backplane to selectively electrically connect together two or more metal-plated apertures in the backplane. The interconnection of the apertures by the metallized patterns on the backplane provides an electrical connection between two or more contact fingers extending from the same or different edge connectors. In this way, the backplane serves to selectively interconnect several circuit boards.
In the past, insertion of the contact fingers of each edge connector through the corresponding apertures in the backplane has been performed manually. In some instances insertion of as many as forty or fifty edge connectors in a single backplane is required, making the fabrication of such backplanes time consuming and expensive. Automation of the process of inserting the contact fingers of the edge connectors into corresponding apertures in the backplane has proven difficult because often a single backplane must carry more than one type of edge connector.
Accordingly, a problem exists in how to achieve automated insertion of contact fingers of an edge connector into corresponding apertures in a backplane.